More than 11 months have passed, yet the Uttarakhand Police are still without a full-time Director General of Police (DGP), as Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami led BJP government has not finalized a candidate from the panel of nominees submitted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Currently, the state police force is led by Acting DGP Abhinav Kumar, who is not included in the UPSC panel.

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State Home Department officials disclosed that over a month has elapsed since the UPSC sent its final three-member panel of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers from the state cadre for the selection of a full-time DGP.

Abhinav Kumar, a 1996 batch IPS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has served in Uttarakhand since it was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000. Kumar’s position is also under judicial scrutiny, as the Uttarakhand High Court has issued a stay order on his return to Uttar Pradesh. He assumed the role of Acting DGP of Uttarakhand on December 1, 2023, following the retirement of former DGP Ashok Kumar.

Despite the completion of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting and UPSC’s submission of a three-member panel, the Dhami government has not made a decision on appointing a permanent DGP. The UPSC panel includes the names of Deepam Seth, a 1995 batch IPS officer currently on central deputation, PVK Prasad, and 1997 batch IPS officer Amit Sinha.

Earlier, the Uttarakhand government delayed submitting its list of seven potential senior IPS officers from the state to the UPSC for the DPC process. After finalizing the three names, the UPSC returned the panel to the state government for the appointment.

However, Abhinav Kumar, being a member of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, was not included in this list. Since then, the state home department has not acted on the panel, leading to a nearly year-long delay in appointing Uttarakhand’s full-time DGP.

A senior Home Department official, speaking under the condition of anonymity, noted, “It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the government’s delay in appointing a full-time DGP. So far, there has been no directive from the Chief Minister or the Home Secretary to initiate the selection process.”

Currently, Kumar holds the rank of Additional Director General (ADG) with an additional charge as Acting DGP. He is considered to be close to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

After Dhami’s re-election in 2022, Kumar was appointed as Special Secretary to the Chief Minister and was also in charge of the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), a crucial position that often acts as the state’s public-facing entity.